


To Be Human

by HazelHawks



Series: The Youtuberverse [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF, jacksepticeye
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Crossover, F/M, Family Fluff, Lots of it, Mark Fischbach Egos, Mark Fischbach is a Good Friend, Mystery, Platonic Cuddling, Protective Mark Fischbach, Sean McLoughlin Egos, Sean's a dad to nine hyperactive adult children, Torture, Vomiting, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22296490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HazelHawks/pseuds/HazelHawks
Summary: When Jackie sees a mysterious person appear in the distance while crime-fighting who fades in and out of view before he can get a good look at them, he passes it off as a lack of sleep and goes home.  When the same thing happens the next day and he gets a good look at the person's face, he starts questioning his sanity.  The mystery is solved when a unexpected new ego shows up and leaves the household reeling, everyone struggling to adjust to the new addition.  When Jackie is kidnapped a few weeks later, the remaining Septics must band together and use all their powers and skills to get him back before it's too late.
Relationships: Mark Fischbach & Ethan Nestor, Mark Fischbach & Sean McLoughlin, Mark Fischbach & Sean McLoughlin & Ethan Nestor, Mark Fischbach/Amy Nelson, Mark and his egos - Relationship, Sean McLoughlin & Ethan Nestor, Sean and his egos
Series: The Youtuberverse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1574068
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

“You’re not getting away from me this time!” Jackie yelled after the quickly-disappearing street thug who had been popping up around the city and causing trouble for a few months now. He purposefully took a large step, bent his knees and leapt up to the roof of one of the two buildings framing the alleyway. Bounding from rooftop to rooftop with ease, he gained on the criminal, landing a few feet in front of him on the street. With a masterful show of reflexes, the man managed to turn into another alleyway instead of running into the hero and continued to flee.

“Alrighty then, we’ll do this the hard way. Marv, you’re up,” he said into his earpiece before cracking his knuckles and continuing the chase. He gained on the man once again, smirking as he heard the distinct noise of his brother teleporting and saw him appear in front of the criminal he was chasing, effectively cutting off his escape. “You gonna give up now?” he asked cheekily, breathing heavily from the chase. The man glanced around wildly, grabbing a broken piece of glass from the ground near his feet of the alley in desperation. He swung it at Marvin, who, not expecting the sudden attack, only managed to move mostly out of the way before the glass caught him on the side of the face. Less than a second later, Jackie tackled the man to the ground, the piece of glass skidding away from them. He rolled until he was on top of the man and put a knee out to stop their motion, using one hand to grab both the man’s wrists and pin them to the ground in one fluid movement. 

“I was going easy on you,” Jackie growled, “But no one hurts my brother and gets away with it.” With that declaration he raised the fist that wasn’t otherwise occupied and brought it down hard, effectively knocking the man out. As soon as he was sure the man was unconscious, Jackie was up back up again, rushing to Marvin’s side with the special kind of overprotective worry that only comes from being an older sibling. “Are you okay?” he asked urgently, tugging Marvin’s blood-soaked fingers away from the bleeding cut on his face to get a better look.

“I’m fine, Jackie,” Marvin reassured him with a bit of exasperation.

“No, you’re not,” he responded, examining the wound closely then taking a step back with his arms crossed.

“See, it’s not even that deep-” Marvin started.

“I don’t care,” Jackie interrupted, “You’re going to see Henrik right now.”

“But-”

“Now.”

“Fine,” Marvin conceded, opening a portal to their house with one hand. “Are you sure you don’t need any more help?” Jackie was about to respond when he saw something in the distance, a blurry shape that looked like a person wearing a grey jacket. The figure was faintly outlined by a red light, especially near the head, and seemed to be disoriented as the person glanced around with some confusion. Jackie was about to call out to him when he turned and the hero was able to get a good look at the face, recognizing it immediately. It was the one he and all his brothers shared with their creator. One thing that was different from everyone else, however, was the circular red light shining from his temple that was blinking as the man looked around quickly. Then, as quickly as the blurry image had appeared, it was gone and Jackie was left wondering what had just happened. A few seconds later he remembered what had been going on and realized Marvin was still looking at him with expectation and a bit of concern.

“Uh, yeah- I mean no, I’m good,” Jackie replied, stumbling over his words, “I’ll just drop this scumbag off at the police station quickly and then come home.”

“Alright,” Marvin said, not fully convinced as he disappeared through the portal. Jackie let out a breath as the portal closed and his exhaustion started to catch up with him. Curious, he peered back into the alley he had seen the figure in but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“You know it’s time to go home when you start hallucinating,” he muttered to himself, “Okay, let’s get out of here.” He walked over to the unconscious criminal and picked him up in a fireman’s carry, taking off into the night sky towards the police station. His mind wandered as he flew, going back to the blurry figure in the alleyway. It had looked like it could have been another Septic ego, but there hadn’t been any events that could have prompted the creation of one recently, and even if there had been one, they would show up on the doorstep of their house and not randomly in a back alley. Dismissing it as the result of a lack of sleep and food over the past few days, Jackie left the criminal at the police station and flew back home. He stumbled through the front door, collapsed onto the couch with exhaustion, and fell asleep almost immediately, not bothering to walk upstairs to his room or change clothes.

*************************************

He was awakened the next morning by a sudden rush of cold air and the smell of coffee as a blanket that must have been draped over him during the night was suddenly ripped off. Jackie groaned and blearily rubbed his eyes before stubbornly rolling over and throwing his arm over his eyes to block the light.

“Nope,” said a voice from above him, “You’re not going back to sleep down here.”

“Says who?” Jackie mumbled defiantly, his voice laced with drowsiness.

“Says me and anyone else who has to listen to your snoring,” came the reply and the distinct sensation of a pillow whacking him in the side repeatedly.

“Okay, okay. I’m up!” Jackie conceded, using an arm to stave off the attacks as he sat up and opened his eyes to see Chase standing above him with the offending pillow and a lopsided grin on his face. Any trace of annoyance Jackie had at being woken up disappeared the instant he saw how happy Chase was, a stark contrast to the past few days where he, to say the least, wasn’t. Jackie half-heartedly threw the blanket that was on the floor at Chase before letting out a large yawn, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and examining the rest of the room. From where he was sitting on the couch he could see JJ cooking in the kitchen and a tired Henrik sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee; Robbie sitting next to him. As Chase walked back into the kitchen Jackie stood up and stretched before following him towards the smell of cooking food and more importantly, coffee.

JJ gave a small wave as Jackie entered the kitchen and signed, “ _Did you get enough sleep? I told Chase not to wake you up._ ”

“No, but it’s fine,” Jackie reassured him, “I can always sleep more later.” Then he glanced over at Chase to make sure he wasn’t looking and signed quickly, “ _At this point I’m just glad to see him happy._ ” JJ nodded in agreement and they both turned to look at the person in question who was currently showing Robbie something on his phone with an excited smile. Jackie turned to the coffeemaker after a few more seconds and poured himself a cup, making his way over to Chase and Robbie. “Mornin’ Robs,” he greeted, ruffling the young zombie’s hair affectionately. Robbie made a happy noise at the contact which caused Jackie to chuckle as he turned to Henrik. 

“Did Marvin come see you last night?” Jackie asked, double-checking that his brother had actually done what he said he would.

“Yes, he did. Zhe cut was not zaht deep, so it won’t require stitches,” Henrik told him. “Marvin told me you zoned out on him for a little bit, what was zhat about?”

“Oh, nothing. I just started hallucinating a bit because I didn’t get enough sleep.”

“Alright,” Henrik replied, not thoroughly convinced. Jackie started walking towards the stairs before thinking of something and going back into the living room for a pillow. He jogged upstairs, pillow in hand, skidding to a stop outside a door with a “Cation: Turtles Inside” sign on it. He opened the door quickly and peered into the dark room before spotting his target and launching the pillow towards it, grinning when the pillow hit hitting the target hard and was followed by an undignified yelp. Jackie didn’t even flinch when barely a second later, a knife flew past his head and buried itself into the hallway wall behind him.

“Now, now,” Jackie teased, hands on his hips, “What did Sean tell you about throwing knives in the house?” 

“Į̶̜͍ ̷̡̋͌t̵̡͚̝͓̐̊͝ḧ̸̥́̊̉i̵̳͊͘͠n̵͕̣̗̆ķ̶̉̂ ̷̗̟̲͐͂͐ḧ̶̡̭͕͋̽ȩ̷̽̔̑'̴͍̦̄͋l̴͔̃͂̃̑l̸͓̲̏̿̽ ̷̜͊̈̆͘m̸̤̬̑͗͌a̸̙̮̘͑̊͐͝ḵ̷̖͇͌e̷̟̯̎̌̕ͅ ̵͇͙̔̿̐å̸̧̪͔̂͘ņ̴͖̚ͅ ̸͎̎e̸͕̭̙͗x̸̛͙̟́̅͝c̷̘̳̱̜̔̃͆e̸̲͔̬̿̊p̷͖̫̫͈͛̿t̶͚̦̊͝i̶̞̮̋̃̀o̶͎͒ͅn̷̗̈ ̵̢̠̗̥͑f̶͙̆o̸̢̻̗̅͜r̵̼̖͍̄̆ ̸̘͉͊t̸̗̭͚̋͜h̷̖̚i̶͈̣̬̒s̷̢̎͊,” Anti growled, voice laced with static.

“Mm,” Jackie replied, making an exaggerated thinking motion, “I don’t think so.” 

“W̵̫̖̽h̵̡̯͗a̸̗̔t̶̢̥̐e̸̥̐v̷̰͌̔ë̸̢͉r̵̜̪͑͝,̸͇̒͜ ̸̗̒̃p̷̤̾̾ṳ̵̆p̷̙̟̕͠p̵̡̨̄̋è̷̮͚̍t̵̩̻̾̕.̶̠̂ ̴̨̺̅ ̷̭̎̓Ğ̵͉͕͑ö̴̘̝́ ̶͖̻̈̊b̴͚͍͑ơ̷̩̲t̸̯̪̍ḧ̸̺͇́e̷̤͘r̴̝̿̈́ ̷͖̲͐ṣ̷̨̑͘ô̶̧̂m̶̡̨̎e̶̞͊͌o̴̲͐̌n̸̰̍̊ḙ̷̈́ ̶͓͒ḛ̴͛l̴̹͛s̸̨̗̔̿ę̴͌̈́.̸̡͔” Anti responded, turning over and facing away from Jackie in an attempt to fall back asleep. Jackie, as the mature oldest sibling he was, stuck his tongue out at Anti before closing the door and making his way down the hallway to Marvin’s room. 

He knocked lightly on Marvin’s door and called out, “Marv? You awake?”

“Yeah, come in,” came the reply from the other side of the door. Jackie turned the knob and walked in to see Marvin standing in the middle of the room holding a book, his mask pushed up onto his head. “Mornin’ Jacks,” he greeted.

“How are you feeling today?” Jackie questioned, moving closer to the magician and examining the wound from the night before. 

“Jackie, it was barely a scratch.” 

“And?” Jackie replied, not backing down. Marvin rolled his eyes and sighed fondly, letting Jackie look closer.

“See? I healed it, you can barely tell anything happened.”

“So you did,” Jackie conceded, stepping back. “Anyway, breakfast is ready.”

“Is Anti up yet?” Marvin asked as they stepped out into the hallway.

“Yes, but he won’t come out of his room until Chase and Henrik leave,” Jackie sighed worriedly. “He’s been really down since him and Chase got into that argument a few weeks ago.”

“Yeah,” Marvin nodded. “I’ll text Sean and see if he can come over today.”

“Perfect.”


	2. Chapter 2

Later that morning Jackie was walking to the store to replenish the house’s food supply when he heard a faint scuffling in a nearby alley. He stopped moving and listened closely for a few seconds, springing into action when he thought he heard a muffled scream. He ducked out of sight for a moment and snapped his fingers twice, instantly switching into his hero outfit thanks to a bit of magic Marvin had taught him. He pulled his hood up over his head and pushed off the ground to fly up until he was above the roof of the buildings nearby, hovering in midair while trying to relocate the suspicious activity. He found it a moment later and flew over, dropping down to the ground effortlessly behind two muggers trying to steal a woman's purse.

“Hey guys, I don’t think you’re supposed to be doing that,” Jackie said with a small smirk and his hands on his hips. Both of them startled at his voice, whirling around to face him as Jackie got a good look at who he was dealing with. They were both well built, wearing black masks and one of them was holding a gun. Acting quickly before they could recover he leapt forward, disarming the man with the gun and sending it skidding across the alley floor. He turned to the other man who had brought out a knife and used the slightly enhanced speed he had to land a solid punch to his face, knocking the man out instantly. He turned to make sure the first man was down when his eye caught a faint movement on the street out the other side of the alley a few hundred feet away. It was the same person Jackie had seen last night, the red blinking, spinning light shining from his temple once again. This time the mysterious figure seemed more unstable, slowly fading in and out of sight seemingly at random. The figure looked down at his hands for a moment with confusion and then around at his surroundings, but before Jackie could watch any more he was startled back to the present as the gun from before hit him across the face, apparently having been retrieved by the first man.

Jackie stumbled back, eyes watering but still alert enough to dodge the next blow and knock the man to the ground once again, this time making sure he was unconscious. He glanced over at the woman and quickly looked her over for injuries, breathing heavily from the exertion. He felt something warm on his face and grazed his fingers across it, coming away with blood.

“Well that’s a bummer,” he stated before asking the woman, “Are you okay?”

“I-I think so,” she stuttered, still regaining her composure.

“Alright. Well, the police have been alerted and will be here shortly to pick these guys up. You can wait for them if you want or you can go to the police station to give your report later,” Jackie told her, wiping some of the blood off his face.

“Thank you,” the woman told him gratefully.

“Of course, that’s my job!” Jackie responded, smiling. He checked to make sure the muggers were still unconscious before leaping up to one of the rooftops framing the alleyway and landing on the roof. He jogged over to the far edge of the building and peered down over the edge to see if the figure that had distracted him was still there. Jackie let out a sigh when a quick scan of the street below revealed nothing and looked around for anything else that could help him. He spotted a security camera protruding out of a nearby storefront facing the street and got an idea, sitting down to lean against the low wall rimming the building’s roof and pulling out his phone. He quickly hacked into the camera he had seen and replayed the footage back, letting out a triumphant “Hah!” when he saw the person he was looking for. He paused the video at a time when the person’s face was visible, zooming in as best he could. He was definitely a new Septic ego, of that Jackie could be sure. The face matched Sean’s exactly, and based on the beard length and hair style he seemed to be from mid to late 2018. The red light Jackie had seen before was clearly visible now, a small circular light embedded in the new ego’s temple that blinked and spun as Jackie played the video forward and backward. The light and it’s odd placement seemed familiar to Jackie, but he pushed the thought aside for now in favor of examining the ego’s clothes. All Jackie could tell about them from the video and the figure’s partial transparency is that he was wearing a gray and black suit jacket with some text on it that he couldn’t make out and a blue, almost glowing armband on his right arm. Something vaguely familiar was nagging at Jackie about the new ego, but he couldn’t put his finger on it no matter how hard he tried.

After thinking about it for a bit longer he shrugged and pushed the thought aside for the moment, instead working towards downloading the video so the others could see it. A few minutes later the work was done and Jackie stood up, pocketing his phone and wiping the rest of the blood from his nose off his face. He jumped down into the alley on the other side of the building, landing lightly on his toes despite the significant drop. He looked around to double check no one was watching and then snapped his fingers twice, changing back into his civilian clothes. He continued to the store that he had originally been going to prior to the unexpected detour and bought the food needed to restock their kitchen before walking home a bit faster than usual. He opened the front door and walked into the house, taking off his shoes and putting the groceries down on the kitchen counter. JJ walked into the kitchen just then, coming to investigate the sound of the door opening.

“ _ Hello Jackie! _ ” he signed, his face lighting up at the sight of his oldest brother.

“Hey Jamie,” Jackie replied, smiling. “Who else is home?”

“J̴̥̗̯͌̽u̵̼͈̍̏s̴͈̹̝̖̒ẗ̷͇ ̸̛̩͇͔̈́̋̋ͅu̵̢͈̠͌̈̎͘͜s̶̛̥̺̖͇͂̓͋ ̵̳̫͒̆̚t̷͖́̚h̶̰̖̘͔́͐͐r̸̠̱̲̓̂̌͊e̴̝̟͐̈́͠e̶͇̜̘͇͋̆̈,̶̛̱͈̌̃̆ ̴̢̙͇̫͑ũ̶̮̃͛n̸͆̔̆ͅl̵̢̹̘̰̕ë̶̖̟̩͉́̔͝ŝ̸̙͚̗̖̇s̵̤̪̥̽̄ ̶̹̋̍͘͜Ṁ̷̢̿͝ȁ̸̙́̋r̷̩̦͎̤̓̈́͐v̶͍̫̖̼̽i̸̤͆́͝ṅ̸͍͖͈̾̈̐ ̴̬͋c̶̯̺̿͂͜͝ą̴͈̮́̐̉m̷͚̝͔̭͛̆e̸͙̹̓͒̋̕ͅ ̸̧̧̅b̷͈͖͎͉̒ǎ̴̧̡͈̻̔͘c̸̰̻̃ḳ̵̮̤̋ ̴̢̇͗̈́w̸̞͈͍͆͂͘i̵͉̹͂͝ṯ̷̛̃̏h̷̡͙͑͜ô̸̹͆ụ̴͇̪̜̕t̸̲̊ ̷̨̺̬͗ṁ̶̡͘ě̵͍͓̖̘ ̴̘͍̋k̸̼̓̔͝n̶̪͓̹̩̄̊̆͝o̶̱̺̒̽w̷̙̳̯͐͗͐̃i̷̡̠̫̺̐̋ṇ̶̥̏̎̈g̸̛̠̳̖,” Anti answered, walking in from the living room with Robbie trailing behind. 

“Oh hey, look who decided to come out of hibernation,” Jackie teased warmly. Anti rolled his eyes and played with the hem of his black t-shirt idly, somehow giving off the same energy as a bored teenager which made Jackie snicker quietly.

“W̷̛̥̑ḧ̴̟̻͋͂ă̷͔t̴̡̫̻̋̈ ̶̠̮̄w̷̩a̴̞̙̋͆͂s̵̢̠͍̿̎ ̸̮̥̫̎͘t̷̢͒ḩ̵̲̗̋̂a̵͓͊̈ṭ̶̢̏,” Anti asked suspiciously but Jackie had already cleared his throat and moved on, instead asking JJ about where Chase had gone to today.

“ _ I believe he went out to meet with Bing at the skate park,”  _ JJ replied.

“Yeah, and he forgot his hat,” chimed in a new voice from the doorway. Everyone turned and looked to see Sean standing there, holding Chase’s signature hat with a look of fond exasperation on his face.

“Seeean!” Robbie yelled in excitement, crashing into Sean’s side and hugging him tightly in greeting.

“Oof. Hi bud,” Sean said, letting out a small laugh as he hugged Robbie back. He moved on a few seconds later, ruffling JJ’s hair and hugging Jackie, who gladly hugged him back. He then walked to stand in front of Anti, putting his hands on his hips. “Now what did I tell you about throwing knives at Jackie, or in the house in general,” Sean scolded lightly.

“I̸̦͗t̶̫̐ͅ ̸̼̅w̸̭͈̪̄͝a̷͍̬̓͜ś̶͉̯͆ ̴̛͎̔ͅo̴̼͋ṋ̷̲̝͒͒e̶̻̗̔ ̷̮̿k̴̼̪̐͊̈́ņ̸̦͑͆ḭ̸̮͝ͅf̵̨̢̎͑͝e̶̼͑̉͜,̸̨̢̗̋ ̶̟͊̓ä̸̳́̅̚n̷̜͇͂͛d̸̛̝̼͌͝ ̸͓͉̄h̴͚̋͐͘ẹ̶̼̃̆͌ ̷̡͎͈͆w̷̲̅o̸̡͚̦͛͆k̶͚̞̅ë̴̜́͆ ̴̤̓͋m̵̗̖̕e̸̢̮̲͆͝ ̵͕̌ǘ̷̼p̷̧̦̼̈́̒ ̴͕̚b̸̄͜y̷̡̗͔͋ ̸̮͕̫̓̀t̸̗̤̲̒h̷̭̿r̶͍͐̏̽o̸̖̘̱͐w̶͙̞̅͊̆i̵̤̇n̶̥͇̘̎ģ̵̝̬̎̕ ̷̜̠̻͑a̴͇̠ ̷̱p̵̩̱̫̑́͂i̸̬̔̈́̚l̷̟͆͠l̵̼̜͂̑̚ǒ̶̪̲̌̈ẘ̵̖̳͎̚ ̷̤̈́͑̓å̸̱̾̆ṭ̴͋̅̚ ̸̌̂͊͜m̶͍̜͓̊͊̌ě̵̲̐̑͜!” Anti objected, crossing his arms and glaring at Jackie. Sean spun on his heel, turning to face Jackie.

“Is that true, Jackie?” he asked.

“Yeah, but-”

“Okay, then that’s fine,” Sean concluded, turning back to Anti and winking at him.

“Hey!” Jackie exclaimed, but then remembered what he needed to show them. “Actually Sean, Anti, I need to show you something,” he said, his tone getting a little more serious.

“Okay, yeah,” Sean replied after a moment, picking up on Jackie’s tone change.

“C’mon, I’ll show you in my room,” Jackie prompted, turning towards the stairs. They both followed him into his room and watched as Jackie plugged his phone into his computer, Sean closing the door behind them.

“What’s going on, is something wrong?” Sean asked with a hint of concern as he turned away from the door.

“Maybe?” Jackie replied, digging through the files on his phone to find the one he was looking for.

“W̶̥͋ḛ̸͘l̸̩̎l̴͖͛ ̴̜̑t̵̨͊h̷̻̊a̷͔̋t̷̗͠'̴̬̇s̵̱̆ ̷̜̈́a̸̰̋ ̴̘̄c̸͕͒o̷̼̽n̸̡͠c̵͓̽l̷̠̕u̸̖̅s̷̢͊i̴̼͝v̵̖̈́e̸̹̋ ̵̗̃a̴̭̐n̵̩̾s̴̩̈́w̸̿͜é̸̡r̶̠̚,” Anti huffed.

“Found it!” Jackie exclaimed, turning the computer screen towards Anti and Sean. “I saw this both today and last night, take a look.” Once the short clip was finished Jackie turned to them, eyes sparkling with excitement. “I think we have a new ego on our hands,” he stated, suddenly bursting with energy as reality of what he had seen hit him.

“It looks like it,” Sean confirmed with a bit of weariness, “I guess I gotta give the community more content or they’ll keep bringing new egos to life out of basically nothing.” 

“What video is this one from? The outfit seemed familiar, but I couldn’t figure out from where,” Jackie asked, now bouncing up and down slightly in his seat with giddiness. 

“I don’t know,” Sean admitted, leaning closer and studying the screen carefully. After a few seconds it seemed to click as he suddenly threw back his head and started laughing.

“Of all the videos,” he laughed, “That’s what gets made canon?”

“W̸̭̝̿̄ẖ̶̹̿̀a̶͈̺͗t̴̡̺͐͠ ̵̢̥͐v̷̨͐͑ͅi̴̠͐͌d̶̞̞̏̇e̷͕̲͘o̶͍̊̀,” Anti asked, having dropped his bored act to lean forward and see if he could figure it out for himself.

“The De- the one with Bryan,” Sean told him, still smiling. 

“Ẅ̶̹́h̴̳͌a̶̭͋t̷͚̑ ̶̨͂ṕ̴͜ä̸̮́ṟ̸̓t̷̪͝ ̴̖͗ȯ̸͙f̸͙̓ ̸͔̈t̸̻͑h̶̹ą̷̂t̸̠̽ ̵̣͒v̸̭̅i̴̝͆d̴̛̪e̶̱͒ö̷͈ ̸̪͋c̸͈̊ŏ̴̹u̴̜̅l̴͇̔ḓ̵̄ ̷̛̻p̸͎̊e̷͖͊ǫ̸́p̶͇̂ľ̴̠e̷͚͛ ̷̎͜m̶̡̔ã̸̤k̶͔̊e̵̲̚ ̴̑͜a̶̘͂n̸͚̓ ̵͙̐ë̸̺́g̴̟̑ô̴̞ ̷̲́o̵̤̽ȕ̵̩t̴̹͂ ̷̧̿ó̸̹f̷̄ͅ.̷̩̈.̸̘͗.̶̯͌o̸̦̍ĥ̴͜,” Anti said as it dawned on him.

“Uh-huh,” Jack laughed.

Jackie jumped up out of his seat in realization, knocking it over in his rush to get up. “WE’RE GETTING AN ANDROID?!” 

“It looks like it,” Sean replied, letting out a small laugh at Jackie’s antics.

“That’s so awesome!” Jackie exclaimed.

“Y̶̭͊ë̶́͜s̷̪̽,̴͚̀ ̵̡͠b̴͔͒u̴̾͜t̷̳̕ ̸̢̈́w̵̛̳e̷̢̎ ̵̣̋h̵͇͂a̸͍̓v̵̳̌é̵̦ ̶͚̎ẗ̵̼́o̴͑͜ ̸̠̏f̶͔̏i̸̼̇n̷̩̕d̷̤͝ ̵͚͝h̷̺͆i̸̝͆m̸̺̍ ̴̯̄f̶͎́i̴̞̔r̸͕͌s̵͓̒t̴͖̓,” Anti pointed out.

“Yeah, Anti has a point. He’s not here, and from the looks of it he’s not even quite real yet,” Sean said thoughtfully.

“Well if he’s almost real he just needs a little push,” Jackie suggested eagerly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

“Just a little push...I’ve got it!” Sean exclaimed, pulling out his phone and finding a picture of himself from the video in question.

“What are you doing?” Jackie asked.

“I’m giving the community a little nudge...there!” he said triumphantly, looking up from his phone. “I just tweeted out a picture of me wearing the Connor jacket with the caption ‘What say we bring this back in a more permanent role?’. With how much everything I post gets analyzed, the implications behind that are sure to be picked up quickly.”

“Good idea!” Jackie complemented.

“S̶͘͜o̸̗̊ ̶͇̚n̶̩̍ȯ̵͓w̶̫͠ ̵͉͘w̴̭̑ȇ̷̳ ̶̜͋j̴͖̽u̶̖͑s̷͈̊t̷̟͌ ̵̙̎w̵̦̎a̴͂͜į̵͆t̵̹̆?̶͚̉” Anti asked, impatient but trying not to show it.

“I guess,” Sean shrugged. “Someone should text Chase to come back and bring Bing with him, because I don’t know the first thing about how androids work. I’ll send something out on the group chat so Marvin and Henrik know we may have a new arrival when they get back.”

“I’m on it!” Jackie replied, still running on adrenaline from the surprise. A few seconds later it was done and he sighed heavily, picking his upturned chair up off the floor and plopping into it. “I hate waiting,” he pouted after a few seconds.

“I think you’ll be fine,” Sean responded wryly, making the same post on Instagram as he had on Twitter. “That should do it,” he said with satisfaction, “Now to see if it’s working. Panic room in Discord should be a good indication- wow.”

“What?”

“It’s been- what, three minutes? And there’s fifty new messages already,” Sean replied, smiling.

“Ḯ̴̼ ̴̞̾t̸̖̅h̶̯̄i̴͠ͅn̴̼̈k̸̖͘ ̵̥̂t̶̲͠ḣ̴̠ḛ̷͋y̵͇̾ ̷͖̽f̶̘̈i̶͓̋g̸̦̈u̶̞̍r̶̟͝e̴͙͐ḑ̷͛ ̶̜̓ȋ̶͕t̸̻͠ ̵̘̓ŏ̵̠ṷ̸̋t̶͚͆,” Anti remarked with a smirk.

“Why did it take so long for him to appear though? I know there’s a little bit of a delay for the character to catch on in the community but it’s been a year and a half,” Jackie asked, looking up from where he had been deep in thought.

“I don’t know,” Sean admitted. “I didn’t think there was enough fanart and stuff with him in it for him to come alive, but maybe I was wrong.”

“Y̶̰̓ő̴̲ụ̶̈ ̶͈̽ẅ̷̘́e̸͚̾r̷̹͝ȅ̴̦n̵̛͓'̷̺̌t̵̡͠ ̶̹́t̸̠̋h̵̙̏ȇ̶̗ ̸̋͜ó̷̟ṅ̵̠l̶̟y̴͆͜ ̸̝͂p̴͙̀e̷̻͒r̵̥̀s̷̨̄o̷͍͗ṅ̴̰ ̷̩̍i̸̦̐n̶͍̎ ̵̩̕t̵̡̐h̴͔͘ä̶͖t̴̞͒ ̴͚̕v̷̛̞ǐ̴̢d̴̟̎e̸͔͂ö̶́ͅ,̷̜͐ ̷̨̈́J̴̲̈ǎ̶̳c̷͓͒k̶̹͂” Anti reminded, as if telling a small child something obvious they had forgotten.

“Oh, of course! Bryan and Amelia have a pretty big community as well, the combined forces of the two together would've done it. Also, don’t use that tone of voice with me, young man. I would’ve figured it out eventually,” Sean teased, lightly hitting Anti in the shoulder.

“U̴͚̿h̵͊ͅ ̷̗̚h̴̢̄û̷̗ḣ̴͖.”

\---------------------

A few minutes later Chase burst through the front door and into the kitchen where everyone else was, followed closely by Bing. 

“WE’RE GETTING AN ANDROID?!” he yelled, panting heavily from the running.

“W̶͚̎o̵̢͆w̷̺͒,̷̬̚ ̶͉͑J̵̮̋ȃ̴̘c̵̤̈k̸̜̀ḭ̴̾e̶̬͊ ̴̯̏h̶͉͌a̶͎͋d̷̦̓ ̴̙͠t̶͍͑ḧ̴̢ḛ̶͛ ̴͈̕e̵͚͐x̶͔͌a̵̻͐c̵̢͗t̸̜̔ ̵̼͌s̵̼̿a̶̘̋m̴̫̓e̶͓͐ ̷̡͑r̶̤̅e̵̲͋à̵̻c̸̱̽t̷͍̿ȋ̶̫ỏ̵ͅn̸̢.̶̢̈́ ̸̺̃ ̴̼͒I̸̛̠ț̶̈́'̸͇͝s̸͎̆ ̴̝͝l̷͕̔i̶̛̦k̶̫̅e̶̫͐ ̷̙̀y̶̛͙ọ̵̐ư̵̘ ̸̨͋t̶͕͘w̸̽ͅơ̷̯ ̵̪̀á̸͓r̵̰̀e̴̛̮ ̷̮̿b̷̨͒r̸̤̔o̷͇͝t̵̯̀ḧ̶̢́e̶̞̔r̵̡̄s̵̜̎ ̷̤̓o̵̞̿r̵̘͊ ̷͚̽s̵͙̎o̴͈̔m̷̱̉e̷̲͐ẗ̷̮h̴̰͛i̵̻͋n̵͖̓g̷ͅ,” Anti said, earning him a pointed side eye from Sean.

“Bro, that’s so co- hey, my hat!” Chase said, cutting off his own exclamation mid-sentence. He rushed over to where it was sitting on the counter and put it on.

“Yeah, you left it at my house  _ again _ ,” Sean told him.

“Well, I gotta take it off when I record videos for you because otherwise they’ll know it’s me!” Chase whined.

“That’s fine, just remember to put it back on when you’re done. And yes, we are getting an android,” Sean replied to Chase’s earlier question.

“Yes!” Chase exclaimed, jumping up in excitement and pumping his fist in the air. “Does he have a name?”

“I don’t think so,” Jackie replied thoughtfully.

“I’m pretty sure he won’t,” Bing said from behind Chase. “I’ve been skimming through the video and there’s no mention of any name for him other than yours, Sean.” 

“O-kay. Well, what model do you think he’ll be? An RK800 like in the video or a JS800 like some of the fanart I’ve seen says?”

“I’ll do a quick search, hold on,” Bing replied, a small search engine window popping up in front of his chest. “Well, over half of the fanart has him as a JS800 so I’d say that’s what he’s more likely to be,” he responded after a few seconds, pulling up a few pieces of art for them to see.

“Wow, that’s really good!” Chase exclaimed.

“Yeah, that’s amazing! Hold on, I’ll tweet that out,” Sean said, pulling out his phone.

“ _ So how much longer do you think we’ll have to wait? _ ” JJ asked from where he was sitting at the table.

“I don’t know-” Sean started to answer but was cut off by a sudden knock from the door. Everyone in the room froze, Chase and Jackie’s eyes going wide.

“Can I-” Chase started to ask after several seconds of silence. Sean nodded and Chase took off for the door, throwing it wide open. Sure enough, there stood the new ego. He was wearing a jacket identical to Connor’s except for the model number reading JS800 instead of RK800, and the circular LED embedded in his right temple was now back to a normal, peaceful blue.

“Hi, I’m the JS800 sent by Cyberlife.”


End file.
